Officers said the traumatised victim did not want to spend even a day longer than necessary in Mumbai. She had expressed her desire to return to Germany where she had been staying with her parents and working as a music director. “The victim left for Germany through the Spanish embassy,” said Pratap Dighavkar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 9).

“We had asked for judicial custody of Ansari before police custody so that the identification parade could be conducted and the victim could leave the country as soon as possible,” said an officer from Bandra police station.

Dighavkar said the FIR was based entirely on the victim’s statement, which would serve as sufficient evidence against Ansari even in her absence.

According to the police, they felt there was no need to record the victim’s statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC. “We can produce the FIR in the court as her statement,” said Dighavkar.

Officers who recorded the victim’s statement said she had given the details of the crime precisely in the presence of Spanish embassy officials. “She recalled the entire trauma, and made sure that we had written everything in order. Her statement in English was drafted with all the details,” said the officer.

The police are now awaiting the DNA test reports of Ansari and the victim to prepare a watertight case against the accused.

On November 5, Ansari allegedly entered two buildings in Bandra (W) where he was beaten up by watchmen. Later, he entered the victim’s building and climbed up to her apartment on the third floor. The victim was staying with a roommate, a photographer, who had left for Kerala on assignment.

The police said Ansari entered the apartment through a window and found the victim sleeping in her bedroom. As he entered, she woke up. Wielding a knife he found in the kitchen, he asked her to hand over gold and money, said officers. When the victim refused, Ansari allegedly raped her and fled after she locked herself in the bathroom, taking her video camera, gold earrings and cash.

Ansari was arrested a day after the crime. He is in police custody till November 17.